Tenancy agreement issues

Question from Iris Kung updated on 1st May 2007:

Mr A solely signed the tenancy agreement with me, Miss B is his girl friend, A & B said to me only two of them living in my property, but B used C's name to put on the bond lodgement form together with A's name. After A was put into the jail, B ran away, then C and B's sister and friends moved in to my property, but not paying anything. According to tenancy tribunal I couldn't ask them to leave the house. I put the case to tribunal and they finally ran away, leaving us more than 20 bags of rubbish,and 8 weeks no rent. I am wondering did tribunal mislead me or can I also make claim to C and B's sister? I paid to learn, but is there anyway I can put their names on to prevent other landlords becoming their next victim?

Our expert Jeff Montgomery responded:

As your tenant, it was the responsibility of ‘A’ to ensure that rent was paid until the tenancy ended. If this was a periodic tenancy ‘A’ could have done that by giving 21 days written notice. When a tenancy ends however, the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 sets out a list of responsibilities for a tenant such as returning the keys to the landlord; removing all of their belongings and rubbish from the property and ensuring that the property is returned to the landlord vacant. A tenant may be found liable for any reasonable loss that a landlord incurs by a tenants breach of their responsibilities. Your application to the Tenancy Tribunal would need to be made against ‘A’.

The Department of Building and Housing provides information and guidance on building law and compliance, services including weathertight homes, and advice for tenants and landlords.



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